Okay...I'm accepting my turn, now.
Thank you and kudos to Merme for posting while I sat for 91 year-old Peggy. I thought, "OMG, how am I going to do this?" Well, necessity is the Mother of Invention, so I put on the positive and asked how I would do this. Luckily, Peggy has a stairway lift, is wonderfully pleasant (She looks at me now and then and says, "I love you. You're my boy!"), and gives me hope because she can get around. At first, it was difficult to get Peggy to understand that I am 55 and bore three children, but the "I love you" and her smile makes her win her argument. Now, I don't care if Peggy thinks I'm Ronald McDonald!
Since I am a "newbie" at gardening (anything green!), I had to find some way to turn the soil. Much of it comes from how I feel that day. If the knees aren't too bad, I'll start pulling out what doesn't belong there and tossing it in the same place. Then, I stretch out the legs, sit on my bum, and use the pitchfork. It surprised me that I can slide the tongs into what I tried to loosen by hand and turn the soil. I kind of "sifted" a forkful and just slid the fork alongside me and pulled off the stuff that would not go through. Then, I tossed it in the pile...My aim is improving.
I tossed the rocks I found up onto the neighbor's wall that separates the backyard. After I treat the soil for
weeds (when I can find a place that sells pickling vinegar), I'll cover the soil with newspapers--Wrennie's suggestion--and use those rocks on the wall to hold it down. The rocks are now at shoulder level on the wall and easier to just drop where I want them.
All of the "stuff" I tossed, I raked over to the ground I cleared, and it is finally dry enough to break up and put into cardboard cartons until I get my composter going. I also asked our tenant on the other side of the house to save kitchen peelings, coffee grounds, etc. in a large container with a lid which they leave on the porch. I have been burying that directly where I cleared. I also put shredded paper on top before I covered it up. It's still really hot and humid here in Scranton, PA.
The last two years, frost did not occur until mid-December! So, I think I still have time to get the composter started.
That's it for now. Thanks for sharing

kat